Paper published in Electronic Book Review
Last summer I gave a paper at the Electronic Literature Organization conference, where I talked about doomscrolling—using my 2020 project The Endless Doomscroller alongside theories by Wendy Chun, Christian Andersen and Sören Pold, and many others—examining the role that platform interfaces have played in our last two years software-enabled collective descent into despair.
Centre Pompidou Logo
My film ORDER OF MAGNITUDE will be part of Réseaux-mondes at Centre Pompidou in Paris, running from 23 Feb to 25 Apr, 2022. Specifically, the work is part of an included video installation from The Wrong TV curated by David Quilles Guilló.
February 2022 issue of UN Today
I gave an interview with UN Today, the official magazine of the United Nations in Geneva. We spoke mostly about my new social platform Minus.
On the list of didn’t expect this, my social network Minus—and its descriptive tagline “finite social network”—was named technology trend #4 of 10 “to watch” by global marketing agency Wunderman Thompson in its annual and highly read trends report.
Read the full report, titled The Future 100: Trends and Change to Watch in 2022.
Review of Software for Less in Hyperallergic
My solo exhibition Software for Less at arebyte Gallery, London received a significant amount of press. Here are links to a selection of it. Many are reviews of the show as a whole. Some are discussions about a specific work, such as Minus.
ORDER OF MAGNITUDE at NeMe Arts Center, Cyprus
My work ORDER OF MAGNITUDE will be part of Through the Mesh at NeMe Arts Center in Limassol, Cyprus. Curated by Patrick Lichty, this exhibition “features the work of artists who initially began to investigate the cultural space of the networks, biopolitical and informatic; who challenge or jam it. The artworks look at electronic networks as scopophilic and performative, the asymmetric regimes of power they project, and the positive uses of “darkside” technologies. These areas of investigation open the media archaeologies of the panoptic network, its modalities, and the spaces of criticism, humour and progressivism. From the era of the Cold War in which the “net” was created to assure communication, Through the Mesh: Media, Borders, and Firewalls seeks to consider the conditions of the contemporary landscape and suggest progressive strategies for the future.”
As part of the exhibition, I spoke with artist/curator Patrick Lichty about Facebook/Meta as unchecked corporate power, FB’s Metaverse as the next wave in workplace hypersurveillance, shifting political ideologies in Silicon Valley, TikTok’s negative effects on sleep, and of course, more.
Through the Mesh opens 9 Dec 2021 and closes 20 Jan 2022.
I spoke about my social platform Minus with Renata Simões of TV Cultura (Brazil Public Television). The player should queue up at the start of our chat, but just in case it doesn’t, it’s 3 minutes in.
Wired Magazine, November 2021
I recently spoke with Louise Matsakis at Wired Magazine about some recent changes at TikTok, looking at how the app is getting increasingly pushy about building out your friend network and submitting your contact info. My TikTok work Not For You also gets a mention.
Franceinfo (French Public Radio)
I did an interview with Marion Lagardere at Franceinfo (French Public Radio) about my work Minus. Listen to the segment.
Minus in Fast Company
Several of my social media-related works, including Minus, Facebook Demetricator, Go Rando, and ORDER OF MAGNITUDE were the subject of a feature article at Fast Company:
… Grosser focuses on the cultural effects of social media, particularly the way it preys on users’ insecurities, taps into our desire for instant gratification, and is designed to be addictive. Over the past few weeks, his work has become increasingly relevant, as leaked internal documents and the recent testimony from whistleblower Frances Haugen reveal exactly how much Facebook knows about the damage its platform does.
… Facebook says it is exploring ways to reduce its negative effects on people’s well-being, through features like giving users the option to remove “likes” from posts. This is something Grosser began exploring a decade ago.
… Ultimately, the Minus platform is geared toward spurring conversation, since users could respond to posts freely. “The only way to gauge the success of your post was if there was a conversation in response to it,” Grosser says. “That’s how human interaction worked until social media. We didn’t go to parties and walk away with lists of numbers about how we were being seen. We had to listen to someone, think about what they had said, and respond if we felt compelled to.”
… Minus is a fascinating exploration into how social media might work if constant engagement were not at the center of the experience.
Read the article, which was written by Elizabeth Segran.